English TIPS Week 16

Haisait,

How are you doing? Here is this week’s material! Feel free to talk to us about it!

Gutbai,

——— THE DIRTY DOZEN: Lack of communication———
Effective communication is essential to prevent mistakes in the workplace. Lack of communication is a crucial human error precursor in Dirty Dozen. Direct translation can cause some mistakes, and this is what we will show you today.

 

Let’s look at a basic sentence structure:

subject + verb + object (if the verb is transitive

i.e.:

Daily, I send a report to my boss.

 

Looking at the translation in Portuguese, it’s possible to know the subject by looking at the verb.

i.e.:

Diariamente, (eu) envio relatórios ao meu chefe.

 

In English, sometimes you can leave out the subject of a sentence, but it depends on the situation. You can do this if the subject is clear or has already been mentioned. For example:

Mary is a teacher. She loves her job. (Mary – aforementioned)
Going to the store. Need anything? Informal context.

 

Portuguese speakers tend to omit the subject. However, when you do it, some sentences may sound weird or have a different tone. Let’s look at our example:

Send a report to my boss.  (Subject “I” is implied) it sounds like an order

 

Make sure to include the subject in formal writing and avoid possible mistakes caused by the direct translation. In all communication, it is vital to be clear and concise to avoid ambiguity and confusion.

See you next week, keep learning and growing your English skills!

 

This week’s TIPS was made by: 2S BCT MIGNONI

About The Author

Subdepartamento de Administração do DECEA Divisão de Capacitação Instrutora e Avaliadora de Inglês da Aviação (Assessoria de Planejamento Estratégico) (21)2101-6507